Today is the feast of St.
Bartholomew (AKA Nathanael) who was one of the twelve chosen
by Jesus to be his special disciples. Nathanael (or Bartholomew)
is linked with the disciple Philip. In fact, Nathanael-Bartholomew
is the first person Philip approaches after he is called by Jesus
and he tells his friend that he’s found the one they’d
been waiting for: Jesus of Nazareth.

Unmoved, Nathanael wonders aloud, “Can anything good come
from Nazareth?” But Philip simply invites him to “come
and see” – the very words that Jesus himself had used
earlier when he called two others to be His disciple. They too showed
the same kind of reluctance in following Jesus as Bartholomew does.

When He approaches Nathanael-Bartholomew Jesus recognizes a true
Israelite: “there is no duplicity in him.” What a wonderful
thing to be able to say about anyone – no duplicity. We all
know people like this and they touch our lives wonderfully. A good
friend of mine, a mother of a large family, has the gift of making
people feel good about themselves just by being around her. My friend
Colleen (like Bartholomew) has no “duplicity”, and what
a blessing that is for me and so many others that she interacts
with.

Can we accept the invitation to simply come and see how Jesus is
in our lives? Can we be open to the Bartholomews and the Colleens
who touch us so simply and yet so profoundly? I love it that Philip
spread the good news of his calling to his friend Bartholomew. That’s
the way it is supposed to be in the Christian community - one person’s
redemption becomes the salvation of others.

My challenge, then, is first to receive the good news of the ongoing
presence of Jesus in my life and then to share that good news with
others I meet.

Lord God, thank you for those people who bring me your Son,
Jesus, in simple and beautiful ways. Help me to be like them: an
instrument of your grace for those I meet today.

Click on the link below to send an e-mail
responseto the writer of this reflection.tshan@creighton.edu